


Shopping

by DianaandAlicia



Series: Post Good Out Here [9]
Category: Fear the Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Family Feels, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Panic Attacks, Shopping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2018-06-27
Packaged: 2019-05-29 06:09:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15066842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DianaandAlicia/pseuds/DianaandAlicia
Summary: It's Alicia's first trip to the trading post. Also this small family might get a bit bigger.





	Shopping

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! I hope you like this!

It was six in the morning on the farm. Victor was down in the kitchen and Althea was upstairs waking up Alicia.

Today was a very big day.

It was Alicia's first time going to the small trading post about two hours away. The little family had two trading posts they frequented. There was a small one two hours away from the house, that was about two and a half times bigger than the little store by John's old cabin. There are five other settlements by the trading post, but those settlements keep to themselves mostly, especially since the farm is hard to find and they don't see a small farm with only six people living on it as much of a threat.

The other trading post is huge, almost as big as the bazaar in Mexico. That one however is a few days away so the little group saves their trips to that post for when they really need something that can't be found at the other post. They trade crops that they have too much of after the growing season, and they also trade furs and skins from the animals that they hunt for food. Luciana also knits blankets to trade, so other people can have something warm if they need it. 

Today it was just going to be Victor, Althea and Alicia going to the trading post. Alicia was excited but also very nervous. Besides taking walks along the road by the house every once and a while, this is the first time she's left the property to go on a trip.

When it was time to go, the three loaded up the swat van with the stuff they were planning on trading and they were off, ready to go on their trip.

They drove in silence for most of the way, and when there was about twenty minutes to go, Alicia started to get nervous. She was starting to think that she wasn't ready yet. When they pulled up to the trading post, Victor and Al got out, going around the back to get the furs and blankets that they were going to trade. When they opened the door, they saw Alicia wedged in one of the corners, clutching Nick's flannel. 

Althea knew that today was probably going to be taxing on Alicia so she let her bring her comfort object along, to make her feel better.

"Alicia is everything ok?"

"I wanna go home."

"Alicia we aren't going home until we're done." Victor said calmly, realizing that Alicia might be on the verge of a panic attack.

"Come 'ere Baby Girl." Althea said lovingly, holding her arms out, inviting Alicia in for a hug.

The younger girl slowly got up from the spot she was crouching in and accepted Althea's hug, leaving the van and standing in the small parking lot.

"Why do you want to go home?"

"I'm scared Al."

"Is there anything in particular that you're scared of?"

Alicia shook her head and looked down.

"Well, Victor and I promise that we will be in and out as fast as we can. You have your flannel, and you can hold my hand if you want. As long as you stay by us, we won't let anything bad happen to you." Althea reassured, in a soft and soothing tone.

Victor smiled to himself as he started to unload the stuff they were going to trade. The way Althea is with Alicia, he has no doubts that she would have been a good mother if she had little ones of her own. 

The three piled everything into a shopping cart and pushed it into the trading post, which before the apocalypse, appeared to be a small country general store.

"Good morning!" An older lady from behind the counter greeted them, smiling at the three.

"Good morning Miss Stella." Victor said as they went up to the counter. "We have some things to trade today."

"Very good. Let's check it out." The store owner said, smiling and looking Alicia over.

"Now Victor, Althea, I see a new face in my store. Aren't you going to introduce me?"

"Miss Stella, this is Alicia. Alicia this is Miss Stella, she owns the trading post." Althea said calmly, so Alicia wouldn't be scared.

"So, this is Miss Alicia? I've heard much about you." Miss Stella said with a voice as sweet as sugar.

Alicia gave Miss Stella a small smile before pushing herself behind Victor, hiding behind the taller man.

"She's a bit shy." Althea explained. "And this is her first time leaving the house since we found it."

"Ah. Well that's ok, the more y'all come around with her, the more comfortable she'll be."

After Miss Stella said that, she went on to mark the prices of the furs and blankets, giving the three a little baggie of poker chips that was labeled 500 CREDITS. "This is how much your items are worth today, you know the procedure, go around the store, pick out what you need and if you have any extra credits at the end, I'll add them to your families account to be used next time."

"Thank you very much." Althea said, pulling out a list of things that they needed.

"Alright Alicia, we have to basically divide and conquer to get all this stuff in a timely fashion. Would you like to go with me, or would you like to go with Victor?" 

Alicia didn't say anything but she grabbed Al's hand, signaling that she wanted to go with her.

The two silently shopped for a few minutes getting what they needed on their half of the list, and Alicia stopped for a moment when they passed an aisle of old toys. She slipped into the aisle, assuming Al was coming with her and spent about seven minutes looking at all the toys that were available.

When she was done she looked up and realized that Althea was gone. 

"Al?" She asked, leaving the aisle and looking down ones that were close.

"Althea?" She asked again making her voice a little louder, before realizing that Althea wasn't in this area of the store anymore. Now before her brother's death, Alicia would have done the logical thing and would have looked around the entire store. But instead, she went back to the toy aisle and sat on the floor, bursting into tears.

She sat on the floor crying for about three minutes before Althea appeared again.

"Alicia, Baby Girl what's wrong?"

Alicia just sobbed harder and put her hands up in the air before sputtering out, "Mommy."

Althea froze where she stood. Alicia just called her Mommy. She honestly didn't mind it, and her heart filled with love when she realized that Alicia was comfortable enough around her to call her that.

Althea crouched down next to Alicia so she could establish eye contact with the girl.

"What's wrong Alicia? Why are you crying?"

"You left and I didn't know where you were." Alicia said in between tears.

"Oh Honey. I went to go give the shopping cart to Victor. We're about ready to check out. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you what I was doing. I should have let you know."

Alicia started to calm down now that Althea was back, and the older woman remaining calm and rubbing her back was also helping.

"I was looking at the toys." Alicia whispered, breaths ragged.

"Did you see anything you like?" Althea asked, helping Alicia to her feet.

"That." Alicia said, pointing to one of the shelves.

Althea looked where Alicia was pointing and smiled when she saw what the object was. It was an old American Girl doll.

"Aww. I used to have one of these when I was a kid." Althea said quietly, picking it up. 

"Me too." Alicia said quietly. 

This doll was a Nellie doll, and she came with a trunk filled with her whole collection. The doll itself was almost like new, only a few dirt and scuff marks on the face and arms, but other than that it was as if it was never played with.

"Alicia would you like the doll and the collection?"

"I don't need it Al."

"I'm not asking you if you need the doll Alicia. I'm asking if you want it. Do you want it?"

Alicia nodded and Al put the doll in the trunk and carried it up to the register, where Victor was finishing checking out.

"Do we have any credits left?"

"Forty-five. Why?"

"Miss Stella? How many credits are this doll and collection?" Althea asked, showing Miss Stella the items.

"That my dear, I'll sell to you for twenty credits." 

"I'd like to add it to the transaction please."

Miss Stella nodded and noticed Alicia. It was pretty obvious that the girl had been crying.

"Is everything ok Honey?"

"Yes Ma'am." Alicia said politely, not wanting to drag a stranger into her issues.

"Is this for her?" She asked pointing to the doll.

Althea nodded and gave Miss Stella a sad smile.

"I'm not going to charge y'all for it." Miss Stella said, taking the twenty credits and adding them back to the families account.

"You don't have to do that Miss Stella. We're fine with paying honestly." 

"Consider it a gift from me to you. To celebrate Alicia coming on her first trip to the store. I'll add the forty-five credits to your account. See y'all soon." She said, putting the doll and the trunk in the shopping cart.

As the three started out to the swat van, Miss Stella grabbed a hold of Althea's arm. Alicia and Victor went out to put everything in and Al turned to Miss Stella.

"What y'all are doing for that girl is the Lord's work Al. So many people would have just dumped her on the side of the road due to her mental instability, but over the months I'm really happy to see how much of a family y'all have become. I thought it'd be a lot longer before I saw her in my store, and I'm glad she's at a place where she can leave the house. Thank you for reminding me that this world still has some good in it." Miss Stella said as she let go of Al's arm.

She patted Al's hand before saying, "Keep up with what you're doing because even if it's not immediate, you're helping that sweet girl in more ways than you could know."

Althea smiled at Miss Stella and nodded, thanking her again before leaving. When she got to the swat van, she looked back at Alicia and saw the girl cuddling her flannel in one hand and her new doll in the other.

"I'm sorry I cried like a baby." Alicia said quietly looking Al in the eyes.

"Alicia what did I tell you before? About crying?"

"That I don't have to apologize for expressing my emotions."

"That's right. You were scared and you didn't know where I was. Plus, it was your first time in a new place, it's perfectly fine to cry if you have to."

Alicia nodded and tried her hardest to stifle a yawn.

"Maybe a nap is in order when we get home." Althea said quietly, giving the suggestion to Alicia.

"Only if you take one with me too." Alicia said, giving Al a longing look.

"We'll see." Was all Althea said, turning back around in her seat. 

When they got home, the swat van was unloaded and Victor carried a sleeping Alicia to Althea's room, laying her on the bed. Althea put Alicia's doll and trunk in her room before joining the girl in her bedroom. She decided to take a nap with Alicia after all. 

When they woke up it was lunch time and after they were done eating, it started to rain and thunderstorm. Since there couldn't be any work done outside, everyone stayed in the house. Victor had a nice fire going in the fireplace and the living room was all cozy and nice. 

Althea was sitting in her chair by the fire and Alicia was sitting at her feet, resting her head against her knee. She had her flannel in her arms and her new doll was sitting on her lap. Luciana was knitting and Althea was running her fingers through Alicia's curls, while the guys were off cleaning up and changing out of their farming clothes.

The soothing motion of Althea playing with her hair made Alicia very tired. She slowly started to doze off and the last thing she remembered was the feeling of Althea picking her up and sitting her in her lap, so she could rest her head against her and fall asleep.

When Alicia woke up, she was in bed. It wasn't raining anymore and from where the sun was angled in the sky, she could tell that it was close to dinner time. Just as she sat up to stretch, there was a small knock on the closed door. Before Alicia could respond, Althea opened the door and poked her head in.

"Hi Baby Girl. Sleep well?"

"Yeah."

"That's good. Dinner will be ready in five minutes. We're having venison. Your favorite."

Alicia nodded and Althea left to go downstairs.

After going to the bathroom and washing her hands, Alicia made her way down to the table.

It wasn't long before everyone was sitting around the table eating and John, Morgan and Victor wanted to bring something up for their meal time conversation.

"How would you feel if we traded most of our corn crop this season to get some animals?" Morgan began, wanting to gauge the girls' reactions.

"Most of our crop? Are you crazy?" Luciana asked, looking at Morgan like he grew two heads.

"We'd put up as much as we could this season but to get animals we'll need a lot to trade."

"What kinds of animals?" Alicia asked, her curiosity taken over. She liked animals.

"Well for starters we were thinking of maybe some chickens and cows. A few pigs. That way we could have milk and make our own butter. Eggs from the chickens, and next fall we'd butcher most of the pigs and only keep one male and one female for reproduction purposes."

Althea nodded when she heard that. "But we'd still hunt and fish and eat from our crops and garden, right?"

"Of course. This would just be more to add to our table."

"Well, it wouldn't hurt I guess." Luciana said, with Althea nodding.

"When will we be doing this?" 

"We have to wait until the harvest before we can even do anything. We're only trading the corn by the way. We aren't going to do anything with the garden crops."

"We'll have to talk about it more of course, but it's just something for you to think about." Victor said, as he continued eating.

Everyone at the table nodded at what Victor said and continued eating. 

"Can the one of the chickens be mine?" Alicia asked, looking at Althea hopefully.

"We'll see Angel. We'll see." Althea responded, giving Alicia a smile.

Alicia smiled happily and went on with eating. She always wanted a pet chicken.

After supper everyone went back into the living room to hang out, staying with each other until it was time to go to bed.

**Author's Note:**

> Well I think this is my longest Post Good Out Here story yet! Thanks for reading, I hope you all liked it!
> 
> Also if you like my OC Miss Stella and wouldn't mind seeing her again in a future story, let me know in the comments! As of now she's a one time character but if y'all like her enough that could change.


End file.
